In one of our first shopping trips together over 20 years ago, I remember Joey grabbing a bottle of ketchup off the end cap at the grocery store. “Whoa,” I said. “Why are you buying the expensive ketchup?” He looked perplexed. And that was the day I probably made my then-boyfriend reconsider his relationship choices …
Continue reading “Don’t have the right fruit? Your ingredients may ‘berry’”
There’s a phrase we often hear when we travel north: Minnesota Nice. It refers to how friendly the folks in Minnesota are, and that’s especially true when you visit in the summer months. After being snowed in and freezing in sub-zero temperatures all winter, they are ready to go out and about and are happy …
Continue reading “‘Chew’se a chocolate-free bar cookie for your summer treat”
When I graduated from college and rented my own home for the very first time, I decided that I would do my darnedest to cook meals for myself as much as possible and avoid premade stuff from the freezer section. I remember one of the first times I fired up the stove, heating some oil …
Continue reading “Oven mistake? Just keep calm and ‘berry’ on”
When I was a kid, Hershey’s sold powder for chocolate milk in brown, kind of rectangular containers. I loved (well, love) chocolate milk, and I remember a specific day where I was snooping through the cabinets, seeing what I could find, and there I spotted it: a brown, rectangular-ish container, emblazoned with “Hershey’s” in big, …
Continue reading “‘Espresso’ yourself with some great chocolate cookies”
If you didn’t know, we recently celebrated the first-ever “Local News Day” on April 9. The effort to observe local journalists around the country came from a push in Montana. In Newton, we had a small, but mighty, group of community members who stood outside our office with signs, touting the importance of having a …
Continue reading “There’s no doubt you should cobble together dessert this week”
In past years, January and February have felt like reset months for us. Things slow down, activities are fewer, and it’s time to catch our breaths. Not so this year. Last week, Joey and I were honored to be invited to speak at the Kentucky Press Association’s annual conference, and we ended up spending an …
Continue reading “Don’t be ‘choco’late to the party if you want a chance at these brownies”
I generally make the exact same New Year’s resolution each year. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my resolution messes up some of your resolutions, so I’ll apologize in advance for the calorie-laden recipes that will continue to grace my column in the coming months. It’s necessary, though, in order for me to meet my ultimate goal: …
Continue reading “Try as you ‘maple,’ you can’t avoid these delicious bars forever”
Over the years, I have had a few kitchen disasters that resulted in major cleanup afterwards. There was the time I dropped my flour container, spilling it all over the floor. There was another, when I accidentally turned my mixer on too high and exploded chocolate cake batter all over my backsplash and cabinets. The …
Continue reading “Fudge recipe is one in a million holiday treat”
I have loved our new tradition of sharing holiday recipes from readers in our annual guide that inserted into our newspapers last week. It’s so interesting to see what dishes everyone makes for their own friends and families this time of year. One dish that really intrigued me came from Rachel Hindle of Yoder. It …
Continue reading “Don’t let this tasty recipe go in one ear and out the other”
One of my duties as a speech and debate coach over the years was hosting weekend tournaments. And part of that duty was organizing a concession stand to feed all of the students who came. That meant buying what felt like a heinous amount of hot dogs, chips and candy, along with tons of pop …
Continue reading “Make a pie that feels like it’s payday every day”
